Hi, this is Nichole S. via FB or (nikkistew2 from FFnet). Earlier this evening, I was fortunate enough to chat with much beloved fanfic author, BG Holmes (aka Bronze Goddess via FFnet), on her birthday weekend, no less! But I shouldn't have been surprised; even when she was very busy, or working through tragic losses, she has always made time to communicate with her audience.
NS: If you're not too busy, can I interview you for FSoG Followers?
BG: Oh Wow, that would be great! When would you like to do it? It's my birthday weekend, so I'm on and off, but I'd love to!
We made small talk about her busy schedule and her recent exams, promotions, and much-deserved raise.
NS: OK... basics... When and how did you discover Fifty Shades of Grey?
BG: I had a friend who suggested that I read it so that we can discuss it. At first, I wasn't interested. Then I read it and fell in love! I think it was 2012 or 2013. All of the books had been written by then.
NS: When you wrote Paging Dr. Steele, did you know that it would spawn so many sequels?
BG: No, I didn't, lol. I, like many others, felt an emptiness when the FSOG trilogy ended. My daughter told me about fanfiction and I would close myself into my bedroom and "cocoon" for the weekend with many fanfictions. I don't know where it came from, but one day, I just said that I'd LOVE for Ana to just break Christian down and tell him that she's sick of his "poor little rich boy woe is me" story, and of him using his past AND his money to treat people so badly, so the speech from the community center was born, and the entire story came from that. I didn't think anybody would be interested and I just thought it would be that one story. Boy, was I wrong!
NS: Yes, you were! Deep down, I'm sure many of us enjoyed seeing the Great Mr. Grey being brought down a peg or two. A little humility is good for him; not that unceasing false self-loathing. In a way, that's what initially drew me into the story.
BG: I'm glad to hear that! I needed a stronger, more independent, but knowledgeable Ana and a more vulnerable Christian.
NS: The uniting thread of your stories seems to be the relationship between choices and consequences. I've enjoyed the evolution of both Ana and Christian, while seeing the growth of your OCs and seldom focused on minor characters such as Taylor's daughter, Sophie. Out of the mouths of babes, indeed. But I'm sure readers are riveted on Marilyn's current struggles. Is there hope for Marilyn, who's now repenting her choices?
BG: Oh, very good question! Hence, my journey into "Seasons" instead of "Books." Ah, Marilyn... How many choices have you made in your life that you wish you could take back? Or even choices that you have convinced yourself were right, but the outcome was so tragic that you had to continue to convince yourself that it was the right choice? I've been there many times-some of the choices I admitted were bad choices; others I'm convinced it was the right thing to do.
Were they? I don't know. Did I die? No, I'm still here, so I must have done something right. Knowing this, I completely believe that there's hope for Marilyn. In all honesty, we all know that something's going to have to change fairly soon because she's obviously on a path of destruction. If there's hope of her healing from this, she needs to get cracking.
NS: My first reaction to her [Marilyn's] situation was shock. Many of us have been taught that having children is easy if you have love and a stable home. A lot of people have kids with less. But who's ever really ready to be a parent? Even people who've signed up to adopt.
BG: Yes, this is true. My first son was born out of my sheer will and determination-no involvement from his father for many years. When it comes to being a parent, it's on-the-job training all the time. As big and important a job that it is, you never know that you got it right until you get it right... and you still question some things.
NS: I wouldn't be me if I didn't dig, though I felt kinda like the orphan Oliver, asking for some more. Personally, I'm still waiting on the zinger. Though I can't help focusing on Marilyn, I really wonder where her better half is coming from. He's always been a strange one.
BG: I don't want to give too much away, but we know that Gary is a part of the Scooby Gang, and this event is not going to change that. Having said that, we know that eventually-one way or another-he's going to have to pop up again. Having addressed so many different issues in my story, I do like to give both sides of the coin. At the risk of a SPOILER ALERT, with him being part of this little family, my readers will eventually hear his side of things.
NS: I've found that characters in this serial don't always show their true faces, and when they do, it's usually only to a very trusted few, so I had to ask about the mother we love to hate, Carla (affectionately referred to as mini-Morton). How could Carla pull the wool over so many eyes? Don't they [her faithful friends and parade of visitors] know what an awful mother she was? Do they expect Ana to drop all her rightful resentment just because Carla took a tumble?
BG: Woooo, chile! Okay... masks is right!
Let see, thinking of the best way I can answer this without writing another book!
People only know what you tell them. People have a lot of insight into my life, because I give a lot of insight as I'm writing, but there are still OODLES of things that people don't know about me. If someone doesn't tell you something, unless you perform a background check, you have no idea. Carla has apparently told the people around her life what she wants them to know. Something has happened where she has decided that she wanted to make some friends and be a different person, but she's not that different person to Ana.
She didn't keep it a secret how she treated Ana. As you can see, she told her best friend. But it's obvious that she has turned over a leaf and decided to live her life her way. The truth of the matter is that no one is required to overlook what you've done to them in their life. So, while Wendy loves the Carla that she knows and only wants the best for her, Ana is fully within her rights to expect her to sit up and say, "April Fools! Got you again!"
A lot of people probably don't know how awful a mother she was. Her version of the story that she's giving to her friends may be the truth. However, the truth is a whole lot different when you're hearing someone tell it than when you're feeling it from the inside out.
The people who are seeing Ana's resentment don't understand the roots of her resentment. They're of the belief that when something like this happens, all bets are off and you need to bury the hatchet. What they're not getting, may not know, or don't care about is that "something like this" happened to Ana, and Carla wasn't there for her.
BG has taken our characters on a whirlwind journey around the globe, from Seattle, to the islands, New York, the grittiest parts of Detroit, Las Vegas, Paris, Greece, and even a cruise to the Land Down Under. Helping even a house-bound introvert like me discover new places and cultures.
NS: Food, libations, travel... How much of these are you? Are you a frequent flyer? Chef? Wine connoisseur? How much of the culture exposure is you?
BG: LOL. No, I'm not that frequent a flyer. I've been out of the country a few times, but definitely not as much as our couple. I wouldn't call myself a chef, but I can cook very well and I like trying different foods and learning how to cook them as well. I'm still learning wines. I've tried to adapt a taste for the drier wines, because a lot of the higher-end wines are dry, but it's just not my cup of tea. I know that comes as a surprise since Ana is a Cabernet Sauvignon girl. A lot of the foods that Ana finds appetizing-Mediterranean, French cuisine, Indian dishes-I love those things! I'm exposing myself to more and more culture now that I'm able, and some things, I have to research, but in the past, not as much.
NS: Well, I gotta admit, the smashed cheesy potatoes are a great hit in our house.
BG: Really? That's so cool! Those, I can do.
NS: Seasons, as the Butterfly Saga is now called, has also vividly demonstrated the different types of love and its many degrees. I love that Christian finally seems to have true friends. What is also special is that Christian is learning about the many types of love after being married for two or three years. He seems surprised about the extreme level of closeness between Ana and Al. Could've sworn that Al had told him that if he wasn't gay, Ana would be his wife. Did he think Al was joking?
BG: The only way that I can explain this is that he hasn't had this kind of a relationship with a woman. When I say "this kind of relationship," I mean the relationship that HE has with Ana AND the relationship that AL has with Ana. Many of the general populous will tell you that you can't have a platonic relationship with a member of the opposite sex because one or the other will always want something more. So, gay or not, he really can't yet fully wrap his head around the extent and depth of their relationship although he respects it.
I wouldn't say that he thought Al was joking when he said that he and Ana would be married if he weren't gay, but I think he may have taken that particular statement with a grain of salt because Al IS gay. When it comes to his wife, men fall into two categories-competition or not competition. We all know where Al falls. In all honesty, if there's something that he may not know or understand about Ana or he needs some advice, he goes to Al. But even though you're married and you love someone very deeply, it can still be a little difficult to see them have such a deep connection with another member of the opposite sex.
NS: James handles it with more aplomb, thankfully. Just a few more questions. Do you ever foresee Christian hanging up his crop?
BG: One-word answer-No. That's not to say that it can never happen, I just don't see it.
NS: Will any more of his former subs be coming out of the woodwork? I had to ask; Christian's kinky former harem is cray-cray.
BG: That is always a definite maybe. Unfortunately, these days, especially with the World Wide Web, your freaking exes can always pop up. So, I'm going to say don't count them out just yet.
NS: Reading (and re-reading — don't judge) your saga, now serial, I once made the observation that as Ana and Christian have healed/are healing, we can now see how messy the lives of some of the other characters really are. Ros was a surprise.
BG: Yeah, IKR. There are still going to be some hurdles that they will face in the future, but I feel that seeing the same two people face the same problems over and over and over again can get a little dry. Ros is just an example that no one is as perfect as they seem. So, yes, we will see what happens to her in the future as well. She's also an example that everyone deserves a second chance if the first one doesn't work. The question is who's going to get that second chance? Ros? Gwen? Ros and Gwen together? Neither?
NS: [Hope I'm not spoiling too much] Gwen would be crazy to take her back considering the only reason she "won" Ros in the first place was "seniority"
BG: Oh, God, isn't that something? But love is a silly thing...
NS: It really was! Ros was basically like, I stuck with her because she put in her time... What the hell is she, some kind of union rep?! Egad! I had to get away from that line of questioning; Ros' mess defies logic and common sense. What do you see in the future of the Greys? More children? More travel? More friends?
BG: All of the above. I keep trying to find ways to keep the story fresh. The only way to do that is new experiences and new people-and of course, new drama. I love to have them travel, because travelling means that I can't just plop them in the middle of a country and have them run around. I have to do some research. This means getting into places, walking down streets, talking to people, possibly getting some history, asking some questions or seeing some videos on how other people live if I haven't been there, things like that. I find it fun and terrifying and heartbreaking and enlightening to do the research and write the storylines. Imagine how heartbreaking it was to write Marilyn losing her love and then going home to her parents and having them beat her over the head with the fundamentalist stick for more than a month-or Ana's despair when Christian wouldn't speak to her for a month over the Fundraiser Fiasco-or Grace's horror seeing that she had damn-near decapitated herself at Mia's wedding shower. Yeah, I'd say there's a whole lot more in store for our couple especially since I'm allowed to take the same roller coaster ride that they do as I'm writing it. ?
NS: Well, I've definitely enjoyed the ride you've taken us on with your Christian and Ana. May they stay in love and sexy 'til death do they part!
BG: That's the intention, lol!
NS: Is there anything you would change about Christian and Ana's love story?
BG: Let me think...
I would have to say, "no" because the good thing about Fanfiction is that you pretty much have carte blanche. So, if I wanted to change it, I could. I did take a stab at changing the dynamic in Golden. Some liked it, some didn't, but I expressed the vision that I had and that's what counts.
NS: Thank you for your time and candor. As soon as I put this together in cohesive form, I'll send you a copy... I may have a few follow-up questions, but overall, I think this is enough to leave us wanting more.
BG: Excellent! Thank you so much. I enjoyed it. ❤
With this special interview done and dusted, and my inner fangirl temporarily sated, I'll just leave you with BG's usual parting phrase: Love & Handcuffs.
BG Holmes is the author of Paging Dr. Steele, They Still DO That?, Mending Dr. Steele, Becoming Dr. Grey, Fifty Shades Golden, and Seasons which can all be found on her Butterfly Saga WordPress account.
